Air-brake attachment.



A. L. WRIGHT.

MR BRAKE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION man sEPT.22. 1915.

1,238,375; PatentedAug. 28,1917.

T T 25\ T 1 T V H 765 n-mmn ur 76 ABBOTT L. WRIGHT, OF CHICAGOILLIN'OIS.

AIR-BRAKE AT'IAGHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 28, 1917.

Application filed September 22, 1915 Serial No. 51,947.,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ABBOTT L. \VRIGHT, acitizen of the United States,- residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State-of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Air-Brake Attachments, of which the following is aspecification.

IVIy invention relates to an attachment for use in connection with anair-brake system, and refers particularly to a readily portable devicewhich may be connected with the airbrake system of one or more cars whendesired.

My invention is particularly useful for the gravity switching offreight, cars, although it may be advantageously employed in anycircumstances in which it is desired to operate the, air-brakesystem ofone or more cars when a locomotive carryingthe usual air-pump and mainreservoir isnot connected with such cars.

It is the object of my invention, to provide means by which theair-brakesystem of a car or a series of connected cars isolated from alocomotive may be readilyv operated so that the cars may at all times beunder the superior control which is afforded by air-brakes indistinction to hand-operated brakes.

One of the greatest advantages of my invention is in connection withthegravity switching of freight cars. According to the practice which hasheretofore been employed, when a car has been sent over the hump of thegravity switch abrakeman stationed on top of the car has controlled thebrake system of the. latter solely by means of the hand-operatedmechanism connected with the brakes. This entails great labor on thepart of the brakeman and the control has been very imperfect resultingin many cases in violent collisions between cars and consequent dangerto the brakeman. In cold weather when the cars have been covered withice these conditions have been aggravated to such an extent that it hasbeenimpossible to operatethe gravity system of switching.

By the provisions of my. invention compressed air may be suppliedto thetrain pipe of the car-from areadily portable device, which consists, inbrief, of a h ghpressure reservoir which serves to charge a lowpressurereservoir, which, in turn, may be brought into communicationwith thetrain pipe upon suitable operation of a brakevalve. In this way the earis at all times under the perfect and easy control of the brakeman, whoisnot obliged to encounter the great risks attendant upon' hand-brak-1ng, and by means of which violent collisions betweencarawith consequentdamage to the carsand their contents, are avoided.

I These and other advantages of my inventlon will be more readilyunderstood by reference to the accompanying drawings, which show apreferred embodiment of my invention, and in which Figure 1 is a frontelevation of my improved air-brake attachment;

Fig. 2 is a. side elevation and partial sectional view ofthe attachmentshown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. Bis an. end elevation of a freight car, showing my attachment asapplied thereto.

The high-pressure reservoir 10 is provided at its end with theautomatically acting valve -11.through which the reservoir may bechargedwith air to any convenient pressure, as, for example, three to fourhundred pounds; Extending from the opposite-end of the high-pressurereservoir 10 is the pipe 12, which communicates with the low-pressurereservoirtl8, a pressure-reducing valve 14: being located in the pipe12. The pressure-reducing; valve His set to admit air to thelow-pressure reservoir I3 only up to azpredetermined maximum, thismaximum ordinarily being approximately seventy pounds. Thehanger rod 15is attached to the high-pressure reservoir 10 and the lowpressurereservoir 13 by means of the straps 16 so that these reservoirs arefirmly attached to each other. The lower end of the hanger rod 15 ispreferably bent around the lower; edge of the low-pressure reservoir 13,as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and its upper "end is provided with thehookl'? by means of whichthe air-brake attachment may be supported fromone, of the rungs 18 of the usual ladder 19 located at the end of a car20.;

The pipe 21 leads from the low-pressure reservoir13 to the brake-valve22 controlled by. the brake-handle 23. In pipe 21 is placed thesafety-valve 24, which is set to allow air to escape when the pressurewithin the lowpressure reservoir 13 exceeds the predetermined maximum,and thus acts as a safety device if thereducing-valve 14 should fail tooperate. The pipe 25 leads from the 25 to the duplex pressure gage.

brake-valve 22 to the elbow member 26, which is preferably provided witha thread ed end 27 by which it is attached to the boss 28 on the lowerend of the low-pressure reservoir 13. The flexible pipe 29, of rubber orthe like, leads to the coupling member 30, which may be readily attachedto the coupling member 31 carried by the airbrake hose of the car 20,this air-brake hose'32 being in direct communication with the trainpipe, of well-known construction.

A pipe 33 leads from the highpressure reservoir 10 to the duplexpressure gage 34, and the pipe 35 also leads from the pipe The gage 34has a pair of indicating hands 36 and 37, one of which, as, for example,36, indicates the pressure within the pipe 33, and thus within thehigh-pressure reservoir 10, and the other of which, as, for example, 37,indicates the pressure within the pipe 35, and thus within the pipe 25and the train pipe with which the pipe 25 is connected.

The pipes 21 and 25 are preferably provided with the valves 38 and 39,respectively, which may be closed when my airbrake attachment is not inuse in order to prevent leakage it the brake-valve 22 should beaccidentally moved.

The brake-valve 22 may be operated by means of its handle 23 in order toassume three significant positions, which will be designated as A, B andC, respectively. In position A the brake-valve establishes communicationbetween the pipes 21 and 25. In position B communication between pipes21 and 25 is interrupted, but communication between pipe 25 and theatmosphere is established through the aperture $0. In position Ccommunication between pipes 21 and 25 and between either of these pipesand the atmosphere is interrupted. The latter position is what isordinarily known as the lap position.

Having thus described the various parts used in connection with myinvention, the operation of the same may readily be understood: hen itis desired to operate one car or a series of connected cars, theattachment is hung on one of the cars, as, for example, by applying thehook 17 to one of the rungs 18 of the ladder 19, as indicated in Fig. 3.The couplings 30 and 31 are connected, and communication is therebyestablished from the pipe 25 to the train pipe, which, of course, isclosed at the opposite end of the car or series of connected cars. Theindicating hand 37 of the duplex pressure gage 34 will indicate thepressure of air in the train pipe, and if this pressure is too low thebrake-valve is moved to position A, whereupon air flows from lowpressurereservoir 13 through pipes 21, 25 and 29 to the train pipe, therebyincreasing the pressure within the latter to the desired amount, andthus causing the auxiliary reservoir on the car to be charged andreleasing the brakes.

WVhen it is desired to make an application of the brakes, thebrake-valve is moved to position B, whereby air flows from the trainpipe through pipes 29 and 25 and aperture 10 to the atmosphere, thusreducing the pressure in the train pipe and causing the triple-valve tooperate to cause air to flow from the auxiliary reservoir to the brakecylinder to apply the brakes. 1 prefer to have the aperture 40 in thebrakevalve comparatively small in order to avo d too sudden applicationof the brakes which might result from operation of my attachment by acomparatively unskilled brakeman. When it is desired to hold the brakesin the position. to which they have been moved, the brake-valve is heldin position C, which, as previously explained, is the lap or neutralposition.

When air is allowed to flow from the low-pressure cylinder 13 to thetrain pipe, as just described, the pressure in this reservoir ismaintained by the flow of air from the high-pressure cylinder 10 to thelowpressure cylinder 13 through the pipe 12 and reducing-valve 1 1. Whenthe pressure within the high-pressure cylinder 10 has been reduced sothat it approaches the normal pressure within the low-pressure reservoir13, the high-pressure reservoir 10 is recharged from a suitable sourceof compressed air.

It will be apparent that by means of my invention the air'brake systemof one or more cars may be quickly and easily controlled, and that manychanges could be made in the detailed construction of the various partswhich I have described without departing from the spirit or scope of myinvention, as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim'is:

1. An air-brake attachment, comprising a unitary structure consisting ofa reservoir adapted to contain air under pressure, means for removablysupporting said reservoir on a car, means carried by said reservoir forconnecting said reservoir with a train pipe, andv a brake-valve in saidconnecting means.

2. An air-brake attachment, comprising the combination of ahigh-pressure reservoir, a low-pressure reservoir communicating withsaid high-pressure reservoir, means for mechanically supporting saidlow-pressure reservoir on said high-pressure reservoir, means forconnecting said low-pressure reservoir with a train pipe, a brakevalvein said connecting means, and means for removably supporting saidattachment on a car.

3. An air-brake attachment, comprising the combination of ahigh-pressure reservoir, a low-pressure reservoir communicat ing withsaid high-pressure reservoir, a reducing-valve between said high andlowpressure reservoirs, means for connecting said low-pressure reservoirwith a train pipe, and a hook for removably suspending said attachmenton a car.

i. In an air-brake attachment, a unitary structure comprising thecombination with a high-pressure reservoir, of a low-pressure reservoircommunicating with said high-pressure reservoir, means for mechanicallysupporting said low-pressure reservoir on said high-pressure reservoir,a pressureredueing valve between said high-pressure and low-pressurereservoirs, a brake-valve, means connecting said low-pressure reservoirwith said brake-valve, means for connecting said brake-valve with atrain pipe, a safety valve in the means connecting said low-pressi'n'ereservoir and said brake-valve, a duplex pressure gage, means connectingsaid pressure gage with said high-pressure reservoir, means connectingsaid pressure gage with the means for connecting said brake-valve withthe train pipe, and means for removably supporting said attachment on acar.

5. An air-brake attachment, comprising the combination of ahigh-pressure reservoir, a low-pressure reservoir communicating withsaid high-pressure reservoir, a brake-valve, means connecting saidbrakevalve with said low-pressure reservoir, an elbow carried by one ofsaid reservoirs, means connecting said brake-valve with said elbow, anda flexible pipe carried by said elbow and adapted to be connected with atrain pipe,

6. An air-brake attachment, comprising a unitary structure consisting ofa reservoir adapted to contain air under pressure, means carried by saidreservoir for connecting the same with a train pipe, a brake valve insaid connecting means, and a hook for removablv suspending saidattachment on a car.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this th day ofSeptember, A. D., 1915.

ABBOTT L. WVRIGHT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

